How to Order Food in GermanAt The Restaurant Or For Takeaway

Visiting Germany is all fun and games until you wake up in the morning and realize that you don't know how to get your daily dose of caffeine. But don't despair! Here is a simple but complete guide for all you coffee addicts.

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01.12.2023

How to order food in German is one of those skills that doesn't come to mind when you're at home studying vocabulary. But it will definitely come to mind when you are starting to feel hungry after a night out in Berlin.

In this blog post, we'll show you how to order food in German, no matter whether you like Argentinian steaks, Singaporian black pepper crab, or are on a strictly vegan diet.

How to Order Food

At a very basic level, ordering some food at a German takeaway goes something like this:

Was darf's sein?
What can I get you?
Ich hätte gerne eine Currywurst mit Pommes, bitte.
I would like a currywurst with fries, please.
Auch ein Brötchen dazu? Und die Pommes mit Mayo?
Would you like a bun with that? And mayo with the fries?
Oh ja, bitte!
Oh yes, please!

Now that's at a Pommesbude: The langauge here is more casual and not very formal. You do find this kind of language in many German restaurants though, especially in Berlin.

How to Order Food at a Restaurant

Guten Abend, wissen Sie schon was Sie möchten?
Good evening, do you already know what you would like?
Ich denke schon. Ich hätte gerne den Hummer bitte.
I think so. I would like the lobster, please.
Gebraten oder gedünstet?
Grilled or steamed?
Gebraten, bitte.
Grilled, please.

How to Ask for the Bill

We wrote a whole article on how to ask for the bill in German, so you can check that out if you're interested.

A very basic example for asking for the bill goes like this:

Was darf's sein?
What can I get you?
Ich hätte gerne eine Currywurst mit Pommes, bitte.
I would like a currywurst with fries, please.
Auch ein Brötchen dazu? Und die Pommes mit Mayo?
Also a bun with it? And the fries with mayo?
Oh ja, bitte!
Oh yes, please!

Was darf's sein?
What can I get you?
Ich hätte gerne eine Currywurst mit Pommes, bitte.
I would like a currywurst with fries, please.
Auch ein Brötchen dazu? Und die Pommes mit Mayo?
Also a bun with it? And the fries with mayo?
Oh ja, bitte!
Oh yes, please!

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